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So I have ventured into uncharted junk yards once again and rescued a kJ from Jeep hell
She’s got a new engine and a bunch of other done to the powertrain so for a few hundred bucks I wrapped myself in another money pit.

As I got her
Although some of the body panels are a bit rough the ifs suspension was wasted (of which would be torn out anyway).c

And the build began
A wee cutting and stitching
Plated and boxed the front “frame ears”

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

Time for a big boy axle
And some sexy
And built a front crossmember using the current one and adding to it so I can mount lca in a double triangulation 4-link

Last edited by Stealth Crawler ZJ; 05-25-2019 at 09:15 AM.

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

And some uca brackets trying to keep them in a good path
Could almost set it on the axle and it all still clears
Nice flexibility with the links

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

I decided to build in the bumper and tie the cage in to reinforce the unibody
I’ll have to pull the grill to install or remove the winch but hopefully I’m not doing that to often...!
Rusty rockers get cut and raised with 1.5”x3” .250 wall box tube
Added a bit more to the cage
Tied the coilover towers to the fender rails

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

Time for the rear axle
Pulled out the 8.25 and cleared all the old brackets
Rear sterling 10.5 got trussed and brackets
I used some channel to build an inner frame
And time to build a rear crossmember
Test fit
Added the upper brackets and welded her in

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

Rear links again double triangulation
Painted
Using my old 37s to get an idea for clearance
Then a belly skid is happening
Rails on the bottom as slide points between uca brackets

Last edited by Stealth Crawler ZJ; 05-25-2019 at 10:34 AM.

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

Now I have a new problem...
the rear coilover won’t fit between the frame rail and the tire... so to cut out a notch and box it or mount it another way?

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

So this is what’s happening... to late to change now lol
Inside for tying cage to shock mount

Last edited by Stealth Crawler ZJ; 05-25-2019 at 09:52 PM.

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

With regards to the rear coil over mounts... you need to come up with a way to plate/box the inside of the unibody frame rail to replace the material you removed. Something like the rear TJ coil over mounts that notches the frame.

I’m in process of moving shops right now but still sneaking in some time on this thing I have this back piece so far and plan to box it in a bit inside the frame and above
While thinking I need an opening to remove the shock
And this on the outside in the fender well
And

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

Got a bit more done on the B-section but of course progress is slow mainly because I’m moving to a new shop and I’m helping to close out a business

Last edited by Stealth Crawler ZJ; 06-10-2019 at 04:48 PM.

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

With regards to the rear coil over mounts... you need to come up with a way to plate/box the inside of the unibody frame rail to replace the material you removed. Something like the rear TJ coil over mounts that notches the frame

Any thoughts on my “box” idea? And tying the cut out area to the cross bar section of the cage?
I would like to close it off to the outside for family reasons like water, dirt, fumes and not dropping stuff trough there while driving

Last edited by Stealth Crawler ZJ; 06-10-2019 at 04:57 PM.

"ZJ's were designed with the intention to take 1 really good hit, and fold up. As long as the occupants walked away, it was a success. In the wheeling world, we expect our vehicles to take multiple really good hits, drive out of it, and run the obstacle again!"

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